Truth behind wild rumour that WWE icon died after his ‘penis was chopped off’

WWE icon Rick Rude tragically died at the age of just 40. But since his death from an overdose, other wrestlers have begun to spread a story that he actually died after a tragic accident involving his manhood and viagra

Wrestlers are a weird bunch and famously not shy about spinning a good story. But even within the chaotic world of WWE, the urban myth surrounding the death of Ravishing Rick Rude is a lot to take in.

Rude was one of the biggest stars in the industry during the 1980s, picking up a host of accolades across the WWE (at the time the WWF), WCW and ECW.

During his heyday, he won four world titles before becoming a manager after he was forced to retire from injury. Tragically, however, Rude’s life was cut short, dying aged just 40 back in 1999.

READ MORE: Iconic 90s wrestlers who died too soon after fighting drugs, steroids and heart attacks

At the time, it was reported that he had suffered from heart failure, thought to have been caused by an overdose of a mixture of drugs.

In the years since, Rude’s death has taken on a semi-mythological status. A number of other wrestlers have openly discussed a bizarre theory claiming that, instead of an accidental overdose, Rude actually took his own life after a tragic incident involving his manhood.

In 2020, former wrestler Ken Patera claimed that he had heard a story from WWE legend Jim ‘The Anvil’ Neidhart two days after Rude’s death, which suggested Rude had been told his penis would be amputated.

Speaking on YouTube channel The Hannibal TV, Patera said: “Neidhart said Rick just lost his f***ing mind because he had to go to the hospital and they were gonna amputate his penis.

“Well, his penis was the dearest thing to him. So, to my knowledge, that’s a true story.”

In another interview on the same channel, former wrestler The Berserker, claimed that Rude had actually injected Viagra directly into his penis, causing the problems.

He said: “Rick just wanted to get kinky as hell and get numb, and then he would actually shoot it in his pecker. One out of a million guys will do that. That’s just very rare. That’s the extreme of the extreme.”

Other iconic wrestlers, including Jake the Snake Roberts and The Honky Tonk Man, have also propagated the rumour over the years, suggesting that Rude became depressed at losing his manhood and intentionally overdosed as a result.

When the story was put to Roberts, he said: “Well that’s what I heard too but I don’t know. You can say it’s suicide, you can say it’s an accident but I’ll say this – they’re dead.”

The story goes that his penis and testicles became infected after the injection, leaving doctors with no choice but to amputate.

Despite these wild claims, the rumour has been shot down by long-time WWE executive Bruce Prichard, who said he spoke with Rude’s wife Michelle the day after his death.

He slammed the story as ‘extremely silly’ and said it was ‘a lot of rumour and innuendo’.

He added: “I spoke with Rick’s wife the day after she found him, and she had indicated that prescription bottles and just the fear that, due to injuries and I guess he had been in an automobile accident recently, that he might have just overdone it and be an accidental overdose.”